From Chennai on Line, June 04, come Vishy Anand's thoughts on the improbability of chess being accepted as an Olympic sport any time soon:QUOTE
New Delhi, Jun 2: Viswanathan Anand may have claimed every big honour in chess but he has no hope of winning an Olympic medal in his career.
World Number One and former World Champion Anand said it was a lengthy procedure for a sport to be included in the Olympic Games and at the moment he was content with the fact that the sport had been included in the Asian Games.
"I can say I have just a little over zero per cent hope of playing in the Olympics. It takes at least eight years from proposal to acceptance of a sport in the Olympics and I don't see its inclusion in the Games in near future," he said.
The Madrid-based player made light of the talks about the game being affected by changes made to suit Olympics.
"I think the time-control factor and double rounds in a day are possible. All those who are complaining about it now would agree when they would see the glory associated with it," he said.
"Earlier, rapid chess was also not accepted easily as people said it was bad for the game but today it's very well there," said Anand, known as 'lightning kid' in his early days.
Anand said his motivation and passion for the game had not diminished an iota since his childhood.
"You think about other alternatives if you do not have desire to play, but I still have burning desire. If sometimes it goes away it comes back in a month or two. I am still as passionate about it as I was in my earlier days. "The day I will start dreaming about doing something else it would mean I am not fit to or want to play chess with my full mind," he said.
Anand feels the advent of technology was changing the game of chess as it was important for players to keep up with fast-changing trends.
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